Middle School – Out Of This World Series

OUT OF THIS WORLD: Series Overview
Have you ever been part of two very different groups? Maybe you go to a different school or you’re in different classes than the people in your neighborhood. So you’re a part of both groups. Or maybe you play on a different sports team than all of your friends. So after practice hang out with the team but on the weekends, you hang out with completely different people. When that happens, we feel like we’re from one world and living in another. We’re torn. And if we’re honest, sometimes going to church or being a Christian can make us feel that way too. We go to church and what we hear makes sense. We see people living out their faith and it looks perfectly normal, maybe even fun. But what looks good on Sunday doesn’t always feel comfortable on Monday. Back in the everyday world, living as followers of Jesus can make us feel like we’re from another planet. But does it have to be that way? And what does it look like to live for God in a culture that doesn’t necessarily think the same way? Believe it or not, these aren’t 21st century questions. Long ago, the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church at Philippi as they figured out how to navigate their faith and culture at the same time. As we spend the next few weeks talking about what he said, we may find that Paul’s advice to the Philippians is just as relevant for us as we learn to manage the tension and live in a way that is out of this world.

November 1 – BOTTOM LINE
Out of this world thinking is about here and there.

SCRIPTURE
“They think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the
Lord Jesus Christ lives.”PHILIPPIANS 3:19-20 (NLT)
“Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of
the Good News about Christ.” PHILIPPIANS 1:27 (NLT)

November 8 – BOTTOM LINE
Out of this world thinking puts others first.

SCRIPTURE
““Don’t be selfish, don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too.” PHILIPPIANS 2:3-4 (NLT)
““You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had…” PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11 (NLT)

November 15 – BOTTOM LINE
Out of this world thinking changes what we do

SCRIPTURE
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
PHILIPPIANS 4:8 (NLT)

November 22 – BOTTOM LINE
Out of this world thinking impacts others for eternity

SCRIPTURE
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
PHILIPPIANS 3:20-21 (ESV)